Tiger of the Week: Martin Gruenberg ’75

The re-election of President Barack Obama led to positive news for one alumnus in the banking world: Martin Gruenberg ’75, the new chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), was approved unanimously by the Senate Nov. 15, more than 17 months after his nomination. He had been the acting FDIC chairman during that period. The Washington Post reported that Senate Republicans had been reluctant to approve Gruenberg because they wanted to allow Mitt Romney to select his own nominee if he’d been elected.

“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to lead this great public institution,” Gruenberg said in a statement.

Gruenberg, a longtime staffer for another Princetonian, former Democratic Sen. Paul Sarbanes ’54 of Maryland, was vice chairman of the FDIC board before receiving the nomination to become chairman. According to its website, the FDIC is “an independent agency created by the Congress to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system by insuring deposits, examining and supervising financial institutions for safety and soundness and consumer protection, and managing receiverships.”

Gruenberg majored in the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton and earned a J.D. from Case Western Reserve Law School. Since joining the FDIC, he has extended his work in the banking world across national borders, serving for five years as the chairman of the International Association of Deposit Insurers.

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